Audio

SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7 Wireless Review

vortez
November 28, 2022 14 Min Read
3 0

Steelseries have spent over a decade producing some of the industry’s most popular gaming headsets, today we’re looking at the Nova 7 Wireless with an all-new design.


Product on Review: SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7 Wireless
Manufacturer: SteelSeries
Street Price:
USD – $179.99
GBP – £174.99
AUS – $199.99

SteelSeries have ran with their Arctis headset lineup for well over a decade now, with no real drastic changes to the formula along the way. They hit the nail on the head from the outset and have stuck to their winning ways from then, but earlier this year they refreshed the Nova Pro, their flagship headset, with an all-new appearance; which now trickles down the range to the sample we have in today, the Arctis Nova 7 Wireless.

Sporting two high-fidelity 40mm drivers, the Nova 7 Wireless promises to provide the user with 360 degrees of Spatial Audio (via Sonar), allowing you to immediately identify the direction for your next move. The headset is also fully compatible with Tempest 3D Audio for the PS5 and Microsoft’s Spatial Sound.


Compatibility, thanks to the 2.4GHz Quantum 2.0 connection technology, as well as the Bluetooth, is excellent, supporting many of today’s popular systems including Windows, MacOS, PS4 and PS5, Nintendo Switch, Mobile phones and the Oculus Quest 2. Xbox users are also catered for with the Arctis Nova 7 Wireless X.

SteelSeries are well-known for their comfortable headsets, and with the ComfortMAX System, the Nova 7 Wireless shouldn’t be any exception; the headband features 4 points of adjustment with height-adjustable rotation ear cups, a stretchy overhead band and breathable AirWeave memory foam cushions around the ears. The new design is also 14% lighter than the previous generations.

Priced at £174.99, and similarly in other regions, the headset comes up against some stiff competition, including the Razer Kraken V3 Pro, Logitech G535 Lightspeed and CORSAIR HS80 RGB. Let’s delve into the review and see what’s what.

SteelSeries on the Arctis Nova 7 Wireless:
Experience optical speed like never before. The custom-built OptiPoint optical switches harness light to detect the registration depth of your keystroke for 33% faster actuation, zero debounce and a lightning-fast 0.2ms response time.


Technical Specifications

Compatibility
PC – ChatMix (Via Sonar)
Mac – ChatMix not supported
PS4 & PS5 (PlayStation does not support ChatMix)
Switch – Wireless USB-C or Bluetooth
Mobile – Wireless USB-C or Bluetooth
Oculus Quest 2 – Wireless USB-C or Bluetooth (Audio only)

Software Requirements
GG + Engine: Windows 8.1 and above, Mac OS 10.13 and above
GG + Sonar Audio Software Suite: Windows 10 and above (required for ChatMix on PC)

Speaker Drivers
Neodymium Drivers: 40mm
Headphone Frequency Response: 20-22,000 Hz
Headphone Sensitivity: 93 dBSPL
Headphone Impedance: 36 Ohm
Headphone Total Harmonic Distortion: < 1%
360 Spatial Audio: Supported

Microphone
Microphone Type: ClearCast Gen 2 – Fully Retractable Boom
Microphone Polar Pattern: Bidirectional Noise Cancelling
Microphone Frequency Response: 100-6,500 Hz
Microphone Sensitivity: -38dB

Simultaneous Wireless
Battery Life: 38 Hours – 2.4GHz Quantum 2.0 Gaming Wireless (26 Hours – 2.4GHz Quantum 2.0 Gaming Wireless + Bluetooth)
USB-C Fast Charge: 15 minutes for 6 hours play

On-Ear Controls
Volume dial, ChatMix Dial, Power, Pairing, Bluetooth and Mute

Packaging & Bundle

An all-cardboard box is all that stands between you and your new Nova 7 Wireless headset, with fancy designs and plenty of information to keep you satisfied, at a glance, that you’re picking up the right product.


Keeping things simple, which seems to be SteelSeries’ thing, the rear of the packaging gives a varied serving of information but doesn’t overwhelm you by doing so.


A first for us when opening a package is finding a foldable Minecraft-like figure that can be built up and placed on your desk.


Included alongside the headset and foldable figure you get a USB Type-C wireless dongle, a Type-C to Type-A charging cable, a Type-A to Type-C adaptor cable and a 3.5mm to 3.5mm cable, as well as a product information guide.

Closer Look

Moving onto the headset, the Arctis Nova 7 Wireless weighs in at 355g, 14% lighter than the previous generation.


One of the integral parts of the Nova 7’s comfort is the adjustable headband, with 4 different height settings. This is also completely removable and can be swapped for a variety of colours, available from the SteelSeries website (Search for “Nova Booster Pack”)


The outer part of the headband, the bit which gives the headset its squeezing force, is a thin metal band with a plastic inner section.


The earcups on the Nova 7 are a breathable AirWave memory foam to try and prevent heat build up within the cups and to provide ample comfort for prolonged sessions. The earcups are removeable and can be replaced with like-for-like or a leatherette alternative if that’s something you prefer, available from the SteelSeries website.


The ear cups on the Nova 7 are packed with buttons and features to talk about so we’ll start with the left side. On the bottom edge there’s a 4-pole 3.5mm jack, for connecting to devices without wireless connectivity, next to that (as illustrated in the photo by slightly extracting the microphone) is the AI-powered noise cancelling microphone that can be fully retracted to be flush with the casing of the ear cup. There’s also a volume wheel and a microphone mute button.


The other side has a power button, Bluetooth button and a ChatMix wheel for adjusting the ratio of game volume to incoming voices. The bottom edge also has a USB Type-C connector for quick charging.
You might’ve noticed the small cut-out above the mixer wheel, that allows you to remove the disc-shaped piece in the centre of the earcup and replace it with a colour of your choosing, which comes as part of a pack with the replacement headbands (Again, search for “Nova Booster Pack”).

Software

Opening up SteelSeries’ GG software suite, the home section appears to have become more of a store front page than anything else. It doesn’t serve much of a purpose here.


The second tab is called Moments, this is a piece of game-capture software. We know those of you who capture game footage most likely use a different software suite, such as NVIDIA Shadowplay, AMD Radeon ReLive or OBS, but at least SteelSeries give you another option.


The following tab, Engine, is where you make tweaks and adjustments to your SteelSeries peripherals. They’ll all be listed here, whether they’re connected or not.


Clicking each individual item opens up its respective settings screens. When opening the settings screen, you can see an equalizer, with presets below it, a slider for microphone volume, a “Live Mic Preview” button to allow you to hear what others will hear, Mic Sidetone which turns on a feedback loop so you can hear your own voice pumped into the headset which some users will prefer. There’s also a volume limiter to try and keep volume levels in check.


The Settings tab gives you some things to change, such as whether or not the Bluetooth chip should activate when you power the headset on, or what it should do if you make or receive a phonecall through the headset. You can also adjust the brightness of the mic mute LED.


The Apps tab gives us access to a variety of different, well, apps. There’s a whole host of different things included in here, with PrismSync that aligns all of the RGB lighting on your SteelSeries equipment, Reflect which extends your screen onto your new Arena speakers, or many many game integrations that can display information in a variety of ways using your peripherals.


The Giveaways section of the software does exactly what it says on the tin. You enter your email address to receive notifications of new giveaways, or just scroll through the currently active list to see if anything tickles your fancy.


Moving over to Sonar (bear in mind that this is in beta currently), which activates many of the cool features offered by the Nova 7, the first screen offers you a Mixer system, where you can adjust individual aspects of the headset to fine-tune the experience. If you want to hear your team mates more clearly with a reduction in sound from the game, or vice versa, you can sort that out here.


Moving over to the Game tab, you can adjust a separate equalizer for the game sound only, or use presets, with a handy test button in the top-right. Or if you want a simpler approach, across the bottom you can tune Bass, Voice and Treble.


Scrolling down on the same page, this is where you can enable Spatial Audio, which steelseries claim can make you a better player by giving you more awareness of enemies in your games. The difference is massively noticeable in game, with the sliders making measurable adjustments to how the spatial audio feels.


The Chat and Microphone tabs are identical because Sonar allows you to adjust how you sound, as well as adjusting how others sound to you. You can tweak the equalizer to your own liking, maybe to give your voice a bit more gravitas or just to make yourself sound funny.



Finally, if you scroll down on those pages, there’s the ClearCast AI Noice Cancellation that removes unwanted background noises, such as dogs barking, children screaming, or even just the noise from other people in the same room if you’re at a gaming LAN or similar. There’s other software out there that does this already, and does it incredibly well, so they’ve got their work cut out for them on this one, but it does work quite well.

Performance Testing

With the SteelSeries pedigree, and its relatively high price-tag, the Nova 7 Wireless certainly has some expectations to live up to, but how does it cope in a very competitive market?

First off, the Nova 7 is incredibly comfortable, so much so that you can genuinely forget that you’re wearing it. The adjustability on the headband, in two different places, with the AirWeave memory foam cushions work in tandem perfectly. At this point, we’ve tested quite a few headsets, but there aren’t many that can live with this level of comfort. I do endurance racing on Assetto Corsa Competizione, so I can be wearing a headset for several hours at a time without a chance to take it off at all, in the past I’ve found some headsets just can’t stand up to this test but the Nova 7 passed with flying colours. There’s also the option of a potentially more premium-feeling leatherette ear cushions, available for a very reasonable price, if you prefer.

As part of the comfort, noise isolation is also important, being able to block everything else out and hear the sounds as intended is a key factor of how well a headset will perform. The Nova 7 Wireless offers 2.4GHz connectivity and Bluetooth, which we’ll cover in more detail soon, but that obviously invites use indoors as well as outdoors, for commuting, the gym, whatever you fancy; unfortunately, the noise isolation on this headset is pretty poor, allowing a lot of external noises to bleed in, we’re not sure if the leatherette ear cushions would help with this issue but we can’t see it making an enormous difference, though some people do tend to prefer a more “open” headset, so they can keep an ear out for traffic or surrounding people during the commute, or listening for children and pets etc. at home.

Sound quality is obviously of very high importance, particularly in this price bracket. With the Nova 7 Wireless, the sound profile is a little bit odd but once you’ve worn them for a little while, it does begin to make sense for their intended purpose – gaming. Bass isn’t very powerful, lacking that bit of oomph that you’d want if you like listening to loud music, but the mids and especially the highs are detailed and pronounced, allowing you to hear features in the soundscape of your game, such as footsteps, the unlocking of a door, a tyre breaking traction, all of these kinds of noises are typically higher frequency. Turning on Spatial Audio does degrade the sound quality ever-so-slightly, but makes up for it with improving directional audio substantially; if competitive gaming is your bag, which if you’re buying a headset like this it probably is, you’ll most likely find that quite useful. Sadly, due to the sound profile being tweaked towards gaming, the headset isn’t the best in its class for music or films, largely due to the lack of bass that we mentioned; it’s still perfectly good for a bit of listening on the side but don’t buy this if you’re a real audiophile with a Spotify addiction.

SteelSeries have equipped the Nova 7 Wireless with a 2.4GHz channel and Bluetooth, allowing you to connect to a whole host of devices, and even two devices at the same time; handy if you want to take a phone call while in the middle of a game. Setting up the connections couldn’t be easier, the instructions are straightforward and it works very well. I also found this feature useful for watching a Twitch stream (or similar) on a second device while gaming. As a lovely extra feature, the headset is also equipped with a 3.5mm jack for connecting to older devices.


The built-in microphone is surprisingly good for a gaming headset, providing a clear and loud broadcast with very little compression. The boom mic can be used while inside the headset, or dragged out and placed in front of your mouth for clearer pickup, sound quality does suffer somewhat if you use it retracted. SteelSeries’ Clearcast AI Noise Cancelling works well to remove unwanted noises, but it’s obvious that it’s still in Early Access at the moment as it lags behind offerings from the likes of NVIDIA with their Broadcast and Discord with Krisp. (The Clearcast AI Noise Cancellation can only be used with the PC)

Build quality is, as expected from SteelSeries, bob on. The headset weighs in at 325g, which isn’t bad at all for a wireless headset with this feature set. The PVD-coated steel headband gives the headset a feel of strength and sturdiness that all-plastic competitors just don’t have an answer for, while the beautifully soft AirWeave ear cushions feel spongy and soft. We don’t doubt this headset will stand the test of time.

The headset is equipped with a handful of buttons and toggles, all of them are easy to find and they’re quick to learn. On the left earcup is a microphone toggle and a volume wheel, both feel nice to use and the volume wheel is weighted well to give decent feedback. On the right side you get a ChatMix wheel, to adjust the volume of your game against your team chat, and a power switch and Bluetooth toggle.

Finally, battery life, we tested this headset for about 6 weeks while catching up on other work and only charged it a handful of times, it’s difficult to test the exact accuracy of the 38-hour claims but it’s definitely there or thereabouts. The Type-C connection supports fast charging, with a 15-minute quick charge providing up to 6 hours of use, very handy if you forget to charge it before a night of gaming!

Conclusion

We’re a big fan of the new aesthetics with a simplified, condensed approach. This is now a headset we’d be happy to wear out of the house without feeling like it would stand out too much. The addition of removeable pieces with the option of cherry red, lilac, mint or rose quartz are a nice touch, giving you the option to personalise things to your own liking.

Thanks to the suspended headband design that SteelSeries have relied upon for, what feels like, forever, comfort has clearly been a top priority during the design process. The AirWeave ear cushions feel lovely around the ear, with a light but firm enough grip provided by the steel headband, there’s also the leatherette alternatives if you want to pimp your headset a little.

Sound quality is very good, for gaming, but it lacks a small amount of clarity and accuracy with music; it just isn’t tuned that way. It’s still perfectly usable and gives a great experience overall, but if you plan to listen to a lot of music, and really care about punchy bass and crystal clear, accurate sound, give this a swerve.

A robust design is important for any headset, it’s something you pick up and use very often, the good news here is that SteelSeries have done well to manufacture it properly, there aren’t any squeaks or rattles and everything feels tight. Speaking of picking up and using it very often, battery life is also decent, with easily over 30 hours of use between charges; the Type-C charging port is a welcome feature, too.


Overall, SteelSeries have done a very decent job here, offering a well-rounded headset, with good build quality, decent sound, excellent software and compatibility with a massive range of devices.

Pros
+ Wide compatibility
+ Good build quality
+ Very easy to use software
+ Comfortable for hours of use
+ Customisation options
+ 30+ hours of battery life
+ Type-C charging
+ Sonar software adds some real value

Cons
– Many Sonar features only work on the PC
– Not the best performance for music listening


Click here for an explanation of our awards at Vortez.net.

Stay connected with the Vortez Social Media pages:
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram

Join in with the discussions on Discord

Tags:

SteelSeries

Share Article

vortez